Panel Orders Promotion of Veteran Black Fire Captain

The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission ordered the promotion of a veteran black fire captain to battalion chief Wednesday, ruling that he had been a victim of racial bias in an “inherently discriminatory” system.

The commission directed Fire Chief John Englund to appoint Capt. Hershel Clady to the first available post as a battalion chief. It was the second time in Clady’s 17-year career that the Civil Service Commission had intervened on his behalf in his efforts for promotion.

Ten years ago, Clady was appointed to captain’s rank after the commission found that he had been a victim of discrimination and raised his departmental test score.

City Discrimination

In its decision Wednesday, the commission upheld a ruling by hearing examiner Sara Adler that the department’s use of informal guidelines for making staff jobs available to candidates seeking promotion to battalion chief is “inherently discriminatory.”

In Clady’s case, she found that the factors used to determine his qualification for promotion were discriminatory because he was denied a request for duty in one of the 25 to 35 available staff jobs.

The Fire Department defends its method of determining who should be promoted as non-discriminatory and insists that Clady was treated fairly, as demonstrated by the fact that he is now ranked among the top candidates for promotion.

Despite the Civil Service Commission’s order, however, it appeared Wednesday that Clady’s promotion is by no means assured at the time the next battalion chief is appointed, even though the Fire Department now has two vacancies for battalion chief.

Deputy County Fire Chief William Zeason said the department plans to ask the county counsel’s office whether the commission has the jurisdiction to order a department head to promote someone.

Until the department studies the commission’s action, Fire Chief Englund will not have any official comment, said Zeason, who is head of personnel for the department.

And, even if the the Civil Service Commission is determined to have the power to order Clady’s appointment, a department spokesman said that budgetary problems might create an extensive delay for Clady.

“It could be months. It could be up to a year. It’s hard to say,” said Battalion Chief Gordon Pearson. “It depends on when the chief promotes. He waited until he had nine vacancies in battalion chief before he promoted last time.”

Cautious About Ruling

Clady, now serving as a training officer, was cautious about accepting congratulations after Wednesday’s hearing. He said he prefers to wait until he gets his first paycheck as a battalion chief and until he completes a year’s probation in the job.

“I understand what can happen from now on,” he said. “I think being awarded a decision by the Civil Service Commission is only the beginning for me. The department is going to put me in a fishbowl.”

Clady said in an interview that he was the object of “blatant, obvious attempts” to keep him from qualifying for promotion to battalion chief. He praised the fire-fighting professionalism of the Fire Department, but he described it as a “die-hard department” when it comes to promoting qualified members of minority groups.

Zeason praised what he described as the Fire Department’s “pro-active” efforts to recruit, train and promote minorities. He denied charges that the department is blatantly discriminatory.

Statistical Analysis

A statistical breakdown of 2,109 uniformed county firefighters disclosed Wednesday that:

- Of 944 with the rank of firefighter, 631 are Caucasian, 108 are black, 185 Latino, 15 Asian, and 5 Filipino. Two of the firefighters are women.

- Of 597 fire-fighting specialists: 487 are Caucasian, 29 are blacks, 77 are Latino, 4 are Asian.

- Of 499 captains: 448 are Caucasian, 12 black, 38 Latino and 1 Asian.

- Of 52 battalion chiefs: 48 are Caucasian, 1 black, 2 Latino and 1 Asian.

- Of 12 assistant chiefs: all are Caucasian.

All four deputy chiefs, one chief deputy and the fire chief are Caucasian.